NOTES ON A SOJOURN IN THE LEVANT. 37 
The climate of Syria is very varied. Round about Beyrout the 
thermometer begins to rise about the middle of April from 78 
degrees or thereabouts in the shade, till in July and August it 
reaches 95 and too degrees. From the beginning of March to the 
middle of October it is very seldom that you see a cloud in the sky. 
Then the autumnal rains begin, and last for fourteen days or 
three weeks. During December, January, and February the rains 
are heavy, and are accompanied by much lightning and thunder. 
Let us now leave Beyrout and go to Damascus. The way is by 
the French road, and the distance about seventy miles. There 
is a good service of six-horse coaches between the two towns, one 
by day and one by night each way. The road is carried over the 
Lebanons, reaching at one point a height of about 6,000 feet, 
after which it descends into and crosses the low-lying and generally 
fertile plain called Coele-Syria—Ccele meaning hollow—that lies 
between the Lebanon mountains and those of Anti-Lebanon. 
After crossing this valley the road is taken through a pass of Anti- 
Lebanon, and then by the side of the river Basada for some 
distance right into the city. 
The southernmost part of Anti-Lebanon is Mount Hermon, 
under whose shadow lies Damascus, a town of about 140,000 
inhabitants. The situation of the town is remarkable—it lies at 
an elevation of 1,400 feet above sea level, and is surrounded by 
thick groves of fruit trees, chiefly apricot (standard), plum, apple, 
and damson. Damascus is generally considered to be one of the 
most ancient cities in the world. Itis mentioned in the fourteenth 
chapter of Genesis, and appears to have been a town of impor- 
tance even in the time of Abraham. The water supply of 
Damascus is unrivalled. It is obtained from a comparatively 
small stream, the Phege, which flows through the same valley as 
the Basada. The water of the Phege is taken in a conduit which 
taps the stream some way up in the Anti-Lebanon hills, and is 
then brought down by gravitation to Damascus, every house of 
any importance in which has a fountain playing in its courtyard. 
The sound of the splashing water is grateful to the senses in the 
parched up months of the Damascus summer. 
